Empty shuttle discharge device for looms



May 14, 1957 E. A. BUTIN EMPTY SHUTTLE DISCHARGE DEVICE FOR LOOMS Filed April 8, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 14, 1957 E. A. BUTlN EMPTY SHUTTLE DISCHARGE DEVICE FOR LOOMS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 8, 1953 May 14,1957 E. A. BUTIN EMPTY SHUTTLE DISCHARGE DEVICE FOR LOOMS Filed April 8, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 EMPTY SHUTTLE DECHARGE DEVICE FOR LOOMS Emile Achille Butin, Lyon, France Application April 8, 1953, Serial No. 347,494

Claims priority, application France April 18, 1952 3 Claims. (Cl. 139-237) The present invention concerns a device for the discharge of empty shuttles on looms provided with automatic shuttle changing, without stopping the loom, but with disengagement of the box and slay and stoppage of the latter in the rear, as disclosed in my prior United States Patent No. 2,493,570.

The shuttle discharging device according to the invention comprises a chute, adapted to pivot about a fixed axis inclined to the vertical and situated in front of the box, said chute pivoting at the moment of shuttle changing and sinking by reason of the slope of its axis so as to shift its terminal shuttle-receiving inlet into register with the path of the empty shuttle, such that said shuttle, being introduced into said chute in place of the box of the slay is deviated towards the front and is discharged forwardly onto a stationary receiving plane as soon as the chute returns to its original position.

For this purpose, said chute is provided with a shuttle braking device which comes into operation as soon as the chute commences to pivot to the rear, and stops only when said chute has returned to its initial position, the shuttle then liberated sliding without shock onto the sloping receiving plane.

The accompanying diagrammatic drawing shows by way of non-restrictive example an embodiment of this shuttle discharge device.

Fig. 1 is a general diagrammatic lateral elevational view of the device, the shuttle exhaust channel being inoperative and the shuttle box being released with reference to the slay and held fast in a stationary position at the rear of the device.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view from above of the shuttle discharge means in their inoperative position, the shuttle box being rigid with the slay.

Fig. 3 is similar view showing however the shuttle discharge means at the moment at which the shuttle which is to be replaced enters it While the slay progresses and the shuttle box is released with reference to said slay and remains in its stationary position at the rear of the device.

Fig. 4 illustrates a third position for which the discharge means before returning into their inoperative position release the discharged shuttle while the slay returns rearwardly so as to reengage the shuttle box.

Fig. 5 is a partial elevational sectional view of the discharge channel and associated parts on a larger scale, the cross-section corresponding to line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

As illustrated, the loom carries on the side carrying also the magazine 8 for the spare shuttles the arrangement providing for the discharge of the operative shuttle when its provision of weft thread has been exhausted. This discharge arrangement includes chiefly a channel carried by a stationary upright 10 resting on the ground and connected with the frame 11 of the loom through horizontal stays 12 and 13.

The upper end 10a of said upright 10 is bent so as to be directed rearwardly i. e. towards the loom. To the StatS Pfltgnt bent end 10:: of said upright is pivotally secured a rotary carrier member 14 to which is secured in its turn through bolts 15 (Fig. 5) the chief section of the above mentioned channel constituted by a square-shaped member 16-17. The upstanding flange 16 of said channel ends with a tapering section 16a (Figs. 2 and 3) and similarly the other flange 17 includes a tapering end section as shown at 17a.

Over a portion of its length, the outer edge of said flange i7 is bent downwardly as shown at 17b (Fig. 5) so that its actual width 17 may be smaller.

The channel is closed upwardly by a plate 13 permanently secured by rods and bolts 19 to the bosses 26 provided along the upper edge of the flange 16 and it is furthermore closed to the front over a length corresponding substantially to that of the downwardly bent section of the flange 17 by means of an elongated shoe 22 pro-' vided on its surface facing the inside of the channel with a shuttle braking lining 23 the part played by which will be disclosed hereinafter.

Said shoe 22 is suspended to the upper plate 18 through two parallel links 24 and 25 pivotally secured on the one hand to the shoe 22 at 24a and at 25a and to the upper plate 18 at 24b and 25!) (Fig. 3). The link 24 is associated with a bell crank 26 (Fig. 4) to which is attached a spring 27 the remote end of which is connected with a tail-piece 28 rigid with the link 25 beyond the pivotal end 25a of the latter. Said link 25 extends also as shown at 29 in Fig. 4 beyond its other pivotal end 25b to carry thereon an adjustable movable stop constituted by the screw 30.

The shoe 22 is thus constrained whenever a thrust is exerted on said adjustable stop 30 to move in parallelism with its own plane whereby it is urged away from the flange 16 forming the opposite wall of the channel. in contradistinction, when no thrust is exerted on said stop 30, the spring 27 produces a shifting of the shoe 22 in the opposite direction so that said shoe returns towards the flange 16.

To the upper end 10a of the upright 10 is secured a projection or stationary stop 33 (Fig. 5) adapted to cooperate with the movable stop 30, said stationary stop 33 being secured by a locking screw 32 to the upright 10 without any possibility for said stationary stop to rock round said upright.

When the above described channel 16, 17, 22 is inoperative, it engages a stationary abutment 31 through its end opposed to that through which it is pivotally secured to the end 10a of the upright 10 (-Fig. 2).

The rotary carrier member 14 includes a side-Wall 34 provided with an opening 35 (Fig. 5) bounded by hernispherical surface against which abuts the rotula-shaped end of a member 36 carried by a rod 37 the opposite end of which rocks selectively in one of the perforations 38 of a circular sector 39 pivotally secured to a stationary spindle 40 and the angular shifting of which is controlled by a rod 41. Furthermore, a spring 43 connects a point 44 on the rod 37 with a point 45 on the wall 34 of the carrier member 14.

This shuttle discharging device includes furthermore a stationary sloping surface 46 located to the front of the above-mentioned channel and the upper end of which registers with the edge of the downwardly directed bent section of the flange 17 of the channel. Said sloping surface 46 is surrounded by a protecting wall 47 along its lower edge and along its sides and it is carried by a plate 48 which rests in its turn on its stand :9 (Fig. 1).

The shuttle discharging device is designed so as to cooperate with the shuttle changing system forming the object of my prior United States Patent 2,493,570 providing for a reduction in the length of the slay 52 to Patented May 14, 1957 which slay is then secured (Figs. 2 and 3) a fitting 53 while the shuttle receiving box 55 is secured on said fitting in a manner such that, at the moment of the replacement of an empty shuttle by a spare shuttle, said box 55 is disconnected with reference to the slay 52 and is held fast in its rear position, the slay 52 returning into its forward position and being connected rigidly again with the shuttle box only after its subsequent return movement into its rear position, the time during which the box is held fast in its rear position serving for the reception of a spare shuttle from the magazine 8 while the exhausted shuttle is discharged during the forward movement of the slay.

The slay 52 is carried in the usual mannerby the arms 56 (Fig. 1) pivotally secured to the horizontal shaft 57 and the shuttle-box is also pivotally secured to the arms 58 also pivotally secured to said shaft 57. During normal operation of the loom, the arms 56 and 58 are made rigid with each other, the box 55 being located in alignment with the slay 52 and in contradistinction, while the shuttle is being replaced, the'arms 56 and 58 are no longer rigid with each other so that the slay 52 releases the shuttle-box 55 which remains stationary in its rear location as described hereinabove and also as fully disclosed in my above mentioned Patent 2,493,570.

The discharge means forming the object of my present invention and the different parts thereof have been described hereinabove so that it is now an easy matter to understand its operation, it being remarked furthermore that when the discharge channel is inoperative as illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 4, it is located to the front of the foremost position of the slay and extends horizontally and at a higher level than the carrier surface 520. of the slay 52.

As long as the provision of weft thread in the operative shuttle 60 is sufiicient, the shuttle-box 55 remains rigid with the slay 52 and moves therewith. The shuttle 60 enters thus the shuttle box 55 and moves out of it in the same manner as in an ordinary shuttle loom. The discharge channel 16-17-1822 remains stationary in its forward inoperative position for which it remains in contact with the abutment 31 (Figs. 2 and 4).

When the provision of weft in the shuttle 60 is about to be exhausted and at the moment at which the slay reaches its rear position, the shuttle-box 55 is disconnccted with reference to the slay and remains in its rearmost position while the slay returns forwardly without it (Fig. 2).

The control rod 41 is then actuated in the direction of the arrow (Fig. 5) so as to produce a rearward movement of the rod 37 and simultaneously an elastic drawing action exerted on the wall 34 through the spring 43 whereby the channel is constrained to rock bodily round the upper end ltia of the upright 10. By reason of the slope of said end 190 with reference to verticality, the channel not only pivots towards the slay, but its input end is lowered so as to register with the level of the shuttle-box carrying race 52a of the slay. At this moment, the shuttle 16 reaching the end of the slay impinges against the tapering cnd 16a17a of the channel flanges so that it is deflected with reference to its normal path and engages the channel as fully apparent from inspection of Fig. 3.

On the other hand and as a consequence of the pivoting movement of the channel, the movable stop 36 moves out of contact with the stationary stop 33 and therefore under the action of the spring 27 the links 24 and Z5 pivot and constrain the shoe 22 to move inwardly of the channel so that it moves nearer the flange 16 of said channel. As it engages the inside of the channel, the shuttle 653 is consequently constrained to urge the shoe 22 outwardly and it is therefore braked in its movement' by the lining 23 (Fig. 3) of the latter.

When the shuttle abuts against the end of the channel, it has thus lost its speed'and therefore no shock is produced at the end of its travel. The shuttle is urged by the shoe 22 against the wall 16 and it is held in position by the underlying flange 17 as illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 5.

The control rod 41 is then actuated in the direction opposed to the arrow shown in Fig. 5 so as to produce through the agency of the rod 37 a thrust against the wall 34 which returns the carrier member and the channel into their normal starting position for which the channel engages the abutment 31 (Fig. 4). During this movement, the movable stop 30 is shifted by the stationary stop 33 which constrains the links 24 and 25 to pivot and to urge the shoe 22 towards its outer position with reference to the channel. The shuttle 60 is consequently no longer held against the wall 16 of said channel. It slides over the bent edge 17b of the channel bottom formed by the flange 17 as illustrated in Fig. 5 in solid lines and it drops without any shock onto the sloping surface 46 over which it continues its sliding movement.

It is thus apparent that the exhaust shuttles are collected on said sloping surface off which they are removed when they are to be refilled.

During the discharge operation, a spare shuttle 60a has dropped out of the magazine 8 and has entered the shuttle box 55. The slay 52 returns rearwardly and when it reaches its extreme rear position, the shuttlebox 55 reengages said slay so that the shuttle a becomes operative in its turn.

In Figs 2 and 5, the shuttle shown at the lower end of the sloping surface 46 is an exhausted shuttle which has been discharged at the end of a preceding operation.

I claim:

, 1. In an empty shuttle discharge device for looms, the combination of a slay adapted to assume a to and fro rocking motion round a horizontal axis, a rigid shuttle box removably secured to the upper edge of the slay, a vertical support including an upwardly and slantingly directed pivot, a chute revolubly fitted over said pivot and adapted to be shifted angularly round said pivot between a normal inoperative position for which the chute is horizontal and parallel with the upper edge of the slay and a position for which said chute is directed obliquely and downwardly with reference to the first position and has one end adapted to engage the upper edge of the slay in its extreme front position and to deflect the empty shuttle speeding over the upper edge of the slay onto said chute, and a sloping receiving plane registering with the first position of the chute to allow discharge of the empty shuttle out of the chute onto said plane upon return of the chute into its first position.

2. In an empty shuttle discharge device for looms, the combination of a slay adapted to assume a to and fro rocking motion round a horizontal axis, a rigid shuttle box removably secured to the upper edge of the slay, a vertical support including an upwardly and slantingly directed pivot, a chute revolubly fitted over said pivot and adapted to be shifted angularly round said pivot between a normal inoperative position for which the chute is horizontal and parallel with the upper edge of the slay and a position for which said chute is directed obliquely and downwardly with reference to the first position and has one end adapted to engage the upper edge of the slay in its extreme front position and to deflect the empty shuttle speeding over the upper edge of the slay onto said chute, a mechanism cooperating with the chute and adapted upon shifting of the said chute from its first position into its second operative position to make the latter receive the empty shuttle, a sloping receiving plane registering with the first position of the chute to allow discharge of the empty shuttle out of the chute onto said plane upon return of the chute into its first position, a braking device associated with the pivoting chute to brake the empty shuttle on the chute, means controlled by the pivotal movement of the chute to produce operation of said braking device as soon as the chute begins pivoting back towards its first position and to release said braking device as soon as the chute has returned into its first position to allow the empty released shuttle to slide smoothly onto said receiving plane.

3. In an empty shuttle discharge device for looms, the combination of a slay adapted to assume a to and fro rocking motion round a horizontal axis, a rigid shuttle box removably secured to the upper edge of the slay, a vertical support including an upwardly and slantingly directed pivot, a chute revolubly fitted over said pivot and adapted to be shifted angularly round said pivot between a normal inoperative position for which the chute is horizontal and parallel with the upper edge of the slay and a position for which said chute is directed obliquely and downwardly with reference to the first position and has one end adapted to engage the upper edge of the slay in its extreme front position and to deflect the empty shuttle speeding over the upper edge of the slay onto said chute, a mechanism cooperating with the chute and adapted upon shifting of the said chute from its first position into its second operative position to make the latter receive the empty shuttle, a sloping receiving plane registering with the first position of the chute to allow discharge of the empty shuttle out of the chute onto said plane upon return of the chute into its first position, a braking plate associated with the pivoting chute to brake the empty shuttle against the chute Wall, means holding normally the braking plate away from its operative position and a stationary stop urging the braking plate into its operative position against the action of last mentioned means during at least a portion of the pivotal movement of the chute.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 678,781 Harriman July 16, 1901 1,950,842 Dobson Mar. 13, 1934 FOREIGN PATENTS 2,761 Great Britain of 1904 2,787 Great Britain of 1860 117,745 Switzerland Dec. 1, 1926 

